Elon Musk Announces Model S Updates

It’s been a while since we talked about Tesla on here (mostly since the company itself hasn’t said much.) We’re still expecting the Model X by September in the US, and early 2016 in China.

However, today, the company held a press call to announce some new features and improvements to their Model S which should be fun and increase the performance and quality of what is already the best car on the road. Here is the basic gist:

1. Blind spot notification

We all know that pain of trying to switch into the next lane and almost swiping the car you didn’t see in your blind spot. Now, many cars already have a warning signal to address this, including Tesla, but the new update does it with much more cool. If you’re going over 20mph and a car is in your blind spot, a white arc appears in the instrument panel. If your trajectory is headed toward crashing into them, two red arcs appear, the steering wheel vibrates and it sounds a chime. Yes to never having to crane your neck while driving.

2.Ludicrous Mode

Unlike most companies and the boring elevator muzak they play while waiting for conference calls to begin, Tesla blasted Ludacris. And now we know why. They upgraded the high performance Model S so that you can accelerate from 0-60mph in 2.8 seconds. It’s a move up from their much hyped “insane mode” from last year. Imagine playing Drake’s 0-100 in this mode. Things will get live, real quick.

3. More battery power and a new Roadster.

There is a new option to get an additional battery pack for $3,000 to give you an extended range. And finally, there will be a new Roadster in the next few years. If you didn’t know, Roadster was the car Tesla launched with, and it was amazing. It’s essentially an electric version of the McClaren. The first time I saw it, I was struck by how bullet fast it was, and yet how quiet. At the time my knowledge of green vehicles was limited to the Prius. It was the Roadster that made me first search out the company. So I’m excited to see it’s coming back.

However, before that happens, the focus is on the X coming this September, and the mass market version 3, which is supposed to bring Tesla into the mainstream.

We eagerly await.

Tesla’s market cap was up by $544 million before the call started, and added another $413 million after the call for a total daily gain of $957 million, a little under a billion dollars. Not a bad day at all.